United for Human Rights Texas - Teaching Human Rights

There are many things one can do to help others learn about human rights. I want to show you some resources available right now that can totally open the door for you to help others on this:

United For Human Rights

The new documentary "The Story of Human Rights" can be seen now at humanrights.com.


Enjoy, and find out what human rights are.

Human Trafficking is the fastest growing crime in the world. It is second only to the sale in illegal drugs in its scope. Every state in the US has cases of human trafficking ( modern slavery) and every country in the world. In the US anyone can be a victim of human trafficking: men, women, adults, children, US citizens, and non US citizens.
 
 Human Trafficking- New Laws of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 
( TVPRA) signed into law 12/2008.

Highlights of the  New TVPA reauthorization:

• Efforts to make sure no slave made products are made or sold in the United States.

• If leaders of organizations should have known that trafficking activities were occurring they may be punished the same as if they had known.

• Multinational corporations are at risk for punishment from human trafficking activities due to drastically changing laws world wide in response to the annual Trafficking in Persons Report from the Department of State. This report ranks countries based on their efforts to prosecute human trafficking activities and support vicitms' rights.

• All organizations that receive government funding for providing service to trafficking victims must train their staffs

 
Any organization that has employees, sub contractors, or their dependents who engage in trafficking may:

• Be stripped of government grant and contract funding

• Face civil law suits from all victims

• Be subject to Department of Labor fines and restitution

• Face asset seizure through RICO statutes

• Be subject to severe and long lasting negative public relations

• Attempting and intending to engage in human trafficking can be charged the same as if the act occurred

Traffickers and their colleagues may face:

• A federal life sentence if a minor under 14 is involved  in commercial sex or a victim dies

• Seizure of all assets under RICO

• Civil trial suits from victims and the Department of Labor

• State and federal criminal and civil charges

• Sanctions for the Department of State

• Loss of all US government, IMF and World Bank Funding

If a person has been a victim of human trafficking they may:

• Receive immigration relief

• Sue all parties involved for restitution and civil damages

• Receive social and legal services

• Be repatriated upon their request

• Be ANY minor in commercial sex (prostitution, stripping, pornography)

Victims of human trafficking must be treated as victims and not criminals according to the TVPRA.

Many legitimate businesses are being infiltrated by human traffickers. In San Antonio, a bartender of the family restaurant Cheesecake Factory allegedly arranged to sell the 5 year old child of one of the waitresses. Local  TV and newspapers have covered their arrest and exposed the scheme and mentioned the Cheesecake Factory many times. The family restaurant will face more negative public relations as the trials and possible sentencing proceed.
 
Case Examples
 
A school district used a contractor to hire teachers from the Philippines. The contracting organization were traffickers, even though they had contracts and appeared to be legitimate. When the teachers arrived in the US their documents were confiscated and they were forced to work in various office and cleaning jobs. The Social Security Administration investigated and arrested several people including administrators in the school district. There was also a similar case involving the University of Texas system where students with research visas were forced into commercial sex by a professor and his wife. This was before the new laws that could have stripped UT of all government funding.

http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/pdf/108hrg/96285.pdf
 
In Los Angeles, Sony's Senior  Counsel was found to have forced a domestic servant to provide labor. He and his wife were sued for over $800,000 and their home owners policy was made to pay a portion of the award. He and his wife now face criminal charges.
 
http://articles.latimes.com/2004/sep/06/local/me-filipina6

A Chiropractic doctor was involved in human trafficking and did not know it. He saw all the "patients" and under his license the office staff was forcing women into prostitution. His first indication was when federal and local agents raided his office and detained everyone inside.

http://www.laweekly.com/2007-06-28/news/aaron-cohen-sex-slaves-drug-trade-and-rock-n-roll/9
 
KBR is now being sued by workers and their families for alleged trafficking by a Jordanian KBR contractor in Iraq.

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/27/AR2008082703237.html
 
Why your organization needs training:
 
If you are part of an organization you need to have policies and procedures that protect your business or organization from human trafficking activities. This crime is a high priority for the Department of Justice, the Department of State, Department of Labor and the Texas Attorney General, and other key enforcement organizations.

REGISTER ONLINE

www.millionkids.org/register
Course fee: $100/person
Groups of 5 or more: $75/person
Students: $25/person
Add $15/person for CEU certificate
To request CEU certification, the application and payment must be received at least 2 weeks in advance of the training.
Specify "Houston"

Thursday, March 12th, 2009
9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Isaac Generation Church
RCCG-Isaac Generation Auditorium
10330 Sugar Branch Drive
Houston, Texas 77036

call 210-882-2259 for more information

Sponsors:
MillionKids.org
Youth for Human Rights International
Saving Lives Through Alternate Options
Rehoboth Foundation





No Slavery

I was at the 9th annual festival in 2008 and I will be at Huston-Tillotson University this weekend at the 10th annual African American Heritage Festival. The Nokoa The Observer newspaper of Austin said it best:

"This festival is the pinnacle of Austin's celebrations of Black History Month and the rich culture African-Americans contribute to the Austin community every day."

State Representative Dawnna Dukes and Tayneshia L. Jefferson (ProArts Collective) are great people and I appreciate the chance to spread the word on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Last year I took some pictures of some of the singing groups and a friend of mine (Megan Creel) and I made a "Human Rights Cartoon". (Watch out for this in the future, I might make some more!)




You really can't praise enough the contributions to our society of the African American community so I will just leave it to a Youth For Human Rights International public service announcement to show my appreciation:


Freedom of Expression

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."

Eleanor Roosevelt

  With each human right, who will give them meaning? Who will see to it that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion? Who will arrange it so that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile? Who will ensure that everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives? Who will attend to everyone having the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment?

  Though it can seem large, our human rights begin with us, all of us, as Eleanor Roosevelt said. Societies undergo constant change, development, evolution. Our history books show us this and history ultimately shows the courage of many in the story of human rights.

  Just thinking of your rights, you can see the courage of human rights. If you have stood up to a bully, dealt with an unfair job, voted or numerous other meaningful acts, you were defending your human rights.

  That really is the courage of human rights. And that's all it takes.

 

 "Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."

    Martin Luther King Jr., December 11, 1964

"Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"

    Martin Luther King Jr., Speech at Civil Rights March on Washington, August 28, 1963

 At the 2008 Martin Luther King Jr. Festival in Austin, Texas, Youth For Human Rights was presented. There were two great bands, two great dance groups and a lot of great people were there.
  We signed up 28 Human Rights Educators, gave out over 100 human rights public service announcement DVDs, gave people over 300 copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and people signed ten pages of petitions to get the Universal Declaration of Human Rights taught in schools.
  Teachers, students, fraternity members and many citizens of Austin were very interested in human rights. Here are the pictures of that day:

          


          


          


          


          


          


          


          



Human Right #1, We Are All Born Free & Equal.

  Today many, many Americans came together across America to elect our next President. Tonight all races and people of America now gather for the outcome. At the Arizona Biltmore and Chicago's Grant Park particularly, the faithful wait for the news to come.

  In August 1963, a dream was spoken of to over 250,000 Americans at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. And in September 1787, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the words "We the People" were forged. I have not yet been favored to be at the Lincoln Memorial, but I feel so fortunate to have visited Independence Hall and I have touched the Liberty Bell nearby.

Key to all of these activities is a human right we all share, Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

This right was first granted to us in Amendment 1 of the Bill of Rights of our United States Constitution:

Amendment I
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

This Public Service Announcement from Youth For Human Rights International illustrates our human right. That we all share it and that it is valuable is made most evident tonight, 4 November 2008, Election Night, in the United States of America:

  A good way to answer this question is to look at human rights being granted and human rights being violated.

  For example, take human right #2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

2. Don't discriminate. These rights belong to everybody, whatever our differences.

  The United States' Civil Rights Act of 1964, TITLE I--VOTING RIGHTS grants this right against discrimination:
...
(2) No person acting under color of law shall--
"(A) in determining whether any individual is qualified under State law or laws to vote in any Federal election, apply any standard, practice, or procedure different from the standards, practices, or procedures applied under such law or laws to other individuals within the same county, parish, or similar political subdivision who have been found by State officials to be qualified to vote."

  Here is the same human right being violated, as shown by a USA Today news story of 23 June, 2008:

U.N. council condemns Zimbabwe election violence
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- U.N. Security Council members unanimously condemned Zimbabwe's government Monday, saying it has waged a "campaign of violence" that has made it impossible to hold a fair presidential election.
 The 15-nation council said in a statement issued by its president that it "condemns the campaign of violence against the political opposition ahead of the second round of presidential elections," resulting in the killing of scores of opposition activists and other Zimbabweans.
  Council members also warned that the violence and restrictions on opposition activists imposed by the government of Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe "have made it impossible for a free and fair election to take place" on Friday.


  Let's examine another human right of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, right #3:

3. The right to life. We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety.

  This right is granted to us in the United States Declaration of Independence:

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
...
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

  Now, here is an example of human right #3 being violated, as shown by a USA Today news story of 30 October, 2008:

Accused skinheads to face magistrate at hearing
MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) -- A federal magistrate will decide if authorities can continue to hold two white supremacists accused of plotting to kill dozens of black people including Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
  The two men are scheduled to go before a magistrate in Memphis on Thursday for a hearing. The magistrate will decide if authorities have enough evidence against the men to keep them behind bars.

  Notice that this hearing calls into play human rights #7, #8, #9, #10 and #11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights :

7. We are all protected by the law. The law is the same for everyone. It must treat us all fairly.
8. Fair treatment by fair courts. We can all ask for the law to help us when we are not treated fairly.
9. Unfair detainment. Nobody has the right to put us in prison without a good reason and keep us there, or to send us away from our country.
10. The right to trial. If we are put on trial this should be in public. The people who try us should not let anyone tell them what to do.
11. Innocent until proven guilty. Nobody should be blamed for doing something until it is proven. When people say we did a bad thing we have the right to show it is not true.

We can see how important human rights are in living. As for teaching them, Will Durant, noted philosopher and author of "The Story of Civilization", wrote this:

What is Civilization?

 "Civilization is social order promoting cultural creation. Four elements constitute it: economic provision, political organization, moral traditions and the pursuit of knowledge and the arts. It begins where chaos and insecurity end. For when fear is overcome, curiosity and constructiveness are free, and man passes by natural impulse towards the understanding and embellishment of life.
  Physical and biological conditions are only prerequisites to civilization; they do not constitute or generate it. Subtle psychological factors must enter into play. There must be political order, even if it be so near to chaos as in Renaissance Florence or Rome; men must feel, by and large, that they need not look for death or taxes at every turn. There must be some unity of language to serve as medium of mental exchange. Through church, or family, or school, or otherwise, there must be a unifying moral code, some rules of the game of life acknowledged even by those who violate them, and giving to conduct some order and regularity, some direction and stimulus. Perhaps there must also be some unity of basic belief, some faith -- supernatural or utopian -- that lifts morality from calculation to devotion, and gives life nobility and significance despite our mortal brevity. And finally there must be education -- some technique, however primitive, for the transmission of culture. Whether through imitation, initiation or instruction, whether through father or mother, teacher or priest, the lore and heritage of the tribe -- its language and knowledge, its morals and manners, its technology and arts -- must be handed down to the young, as the very instrument through which they are turned from animals into men.
  The disappearance of these conditions -- sometimes of even one of them -- may destroy a civilization. A geological cataclysm or a profound climatic change; an uncontrolled epidemic like that which wiped out half the population of the Roman Empire under the Antonines, or the Black Death that helped to end the Feudal Age; the exhaustion of the land or the ruin of agriculture through the exploitation of the country by the town, resulting in a precarious dependence upon foreign food supplies; the failure of natural resources, either of fuels or of raw materials; a change in trade routes, leaving a nation off the main line of the world's commerce; mental or moral decay from the strains, stimuli and contacts of urban life, from the breakdown of traditional sources of social discipline and the inability to replace them; the weakening of the stock by a disorderly sexual life, or by an epicurean, pessimist, or quietist philosophy; the decay of leadership through the infertility of the able, and the relative smallness of the families that might bequeath most fully the cultural inheritance of the race; a pathological concentration of wealth, leading to class wars, disruptive revolutions, and financial exhaustion: these are some of the ways in which a civilization may die.
  For civilization is not something inborn or imperishable; it must be acquired anew by every generation, and any serious interruption in its financing or its transmission may bring it to an end. Man differs from the beast only by education, which may be defined as the technique of transmitting civilization.
  Civilizations are the generations of the racial soul. As family-rearing, and then writing, bound the generations together, handing down the lore of the dying to the young, so print and commerce and a thousand ways of communication may bind the civilizations together, and preserve for future cultures all that is of value for them in our own.
  Let us, before we die, gather up our heritage, and offer it to our children."

  With the Universal Declaration of Human Rights being taught in schools in Zimbabwe and to those two self-professed "skin-heads" in their school, these individual's recognition and practice of human rights would have been made possible, instead of what did occur.


Grateful recognition and acknowledgment is made to:

The Will Durant Foundation
(http://www.willdurant.com/civilization.htm)

The National Archives and Records Administration ( for the Civil Rights Act of 1964)
(http://www.ourdocuments.gov)

The National Archives (for the Declaration of Independence)
(http://archives.gov)

USA Today
(http://www.usatoday.com)

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."

Eleanor Roosevelt



Although she had already won international respect and admiration in her role as First Lady to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt's work on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights would become her greatest legacy. She was without doubt, the most influential member of the UN's Commission on Human Rights.

Unlike most other members of the Commission, Mrs. Roosevelt was neither a scholar nor an expert on international law. Her enthusiasm for her work at the United Nations was rooted in her humanitarian convictions and her steady faith in human dignity and worth. Although she often joked that she was out of place among so many academics and jurists, her intellect and compassion were great assets, and proved to be of crucial importance in the composition of a direct and straightforward Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

With characteristic modesty, Eleanor Roosevelt considered her position on the Commission to be one of ambassador for the common man and woman: "I used to tell my husband that, if he could make me understand something, it would be clear to all other people in the country, and perhaps that will be my real value on this drafting commission!"

The delegates to the Commission on Human Rights elected Eleanor Roosevelt their Chairperson. Like so many individuals throughout the world, the delegates recognized Eleanor Roosevelt's unparalleled humanitarian convictions. During her tenure in the White House she had assisted her physically disabled husband in political matters, serving as his "eyes and ears," traveling throughout the U.S. to gauge the mood of the people. Through this work, she became widely esteemed as a person who both understood and felt the plight of the common man and woman.

Even prior to her years in the White House, Eleanor Roosevelt was actively engaged in politics and advocacy on the local and national level. She was an astute, accomplished, and intelligent woman, thoroughly familiar with the world of political negotiation. Just as she had served as a liaison of sorts between the President and his constituency, so she acted as a liaison between the Commission and the hopes of humanity. She may have lacked certain factual knowledge, but she had a keen sense of what the average person expected out of life - what men, women and children needed to flourish as individuals.

Her common sense approach, constant optimism and boundless energy were integral to the smooth facilitation of meetings. On any given issue, her colloquial style and good humor were engaged not only to win over the majority of delegates who generally supported a particular U.S. position, but to confound those who opposed it. A New York Times reporter who was present at the Commission meetings wrote of the power Mrs. Roosevelt's personality had over certain unreasonable diplomats:

"The Russians seem to have met their match in Mrs. Roosevelt. The proceedings sometimes turn into a long vitriolic attack on the U.S. when she is not present. These attacks, however, generally denigrate into flurries in the face of her calm and undisturbed but often pointed replies."

If Mrs. Roosevelt made one sort of impression with her familiar style, she made another with her commitment to produce a universally accepted, "living" declaration. She was recognized as a tireless worker, stating triumphantly at one point, "I drive hard and when I get home I will be tired! The men on the Commission will be also!" Many of the delegates found this aspect of her personality less agreeable than her charm. One went so far as to suggest that his own human rights were violated by the length of the meetings!

Envisioning a declaration with enduring principles that would be perpetually recognized by all nations, she was a strong advocate of true universality within the Declaration. She was adamant that different conceptions of human rights be deliberated during the UDHR's composition:

"We wanted as many nations as possible to accept the fact that men, for one reason or another, were born free and equal in dignity and rights, that they were endowed with reason and conscience, and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood. The way to do that was to find words that everyone would accept."

Eleanor Roosevelt's personal sense of accomplishment with the finished Declaration was unparalleled in her life. Her speech before the General Assembly as she submitted the Declaration for review demonstrates the historical significance she placed upon its adoption:

"We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind. This declaration may well become the international Magna Carta for all men everywhere. We hope its proclamation by the General Assembly will be an event comparable to the proclamation in 1789 [of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man], the adoption of the Bill of Rights by the people of the U.S., and the adoption of comparable declarations at different times in other countries..."

Eleanor Roosevelt's concern for humanity made her the driving force behind the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Her leadership of the Commission on Human Rights led to the composition of a Declaration that has endured as a universally accepted standard of achievement for all nations. As our respect for and understanding of the Universal Declaration has grown, so too has our gratitude and admiration for this modest woman who passionately pursued what she imagined would become a cornerstone in the struggle for human rights and fundamental freedoms for everyone - everywhere.

She lived her life in the center of what many would regard the Twentieth Century's most consequential events, the Great Depression, World War II, the establishment of the United Nations and the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She confronted both opportunity and adversity with a sense of optimism and determination. A former Democratic presidential candidate, Adlai Stevenson, once said of Eleanor Roosevelt, "She would rather light a candle than curse the darkness."

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories."

The following is an abridged version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948.

1. We are all free and equal. We are all born free. We all have our own thoughts and ideas. We should all be treated in the same way.

2. Don't discriminate. These rights belong to everybody, whatever our differences.

3. The right to life. We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety.

4. Slavery - past and present. Nobody has any right to make us a slave. We cannot make anyone our slave.

5. Torture. Nobody has any right to hurt us or to torture us.

6. We all have the same right to use the law. I am a person just like you!

7. We are all protected by the law. The law is the same for everyone. It must treat us all fairly.

8. Fair treatment by fair courts. We can all ask for the law to help us when we are not treated fairly.

9. Unfair detainment. Nobody has the right to put us in prison without a good reason and keep us there, or to send us away from our country.

10. The right to trial. If we are put on trial this should be in public. The people who try us should not let anyone tell them what to do.

11. Innocent until proven guilty. Nobody should be blamed for doing something until it is proven. When people say we did a bad thing we have the right to show it is not true.

12. The right to privacy. Nobody should try to harm our good name. Nobody has the right to come into our home, open our letters or bother us or our family without a good reason.

13. Freedom to move. We all have the right to go where we want in our own country and to travel as we wish.

14. The right to asylum. If we are frightened of being badly treated in our own country, we all have the right to run away to another country to be safe.

15. The right to a nationality. We all have the right to belong to a country.

16. Marriage and family. Every grown-up has the right to marry and have a family if they want to. Men and women have the same rights when they are married, and when they are separated.

17. Your own things. Everyone has the right to own things or share them. Nobody should take our things from us without a good reason.

18. Freedom of thought. We all have the right to believe in what we want to believe, to have a religion, or to change it if we want.

19. Free to say what you want. We all have the right to make up our own minds, to think what we like, to say what we think, and to share our ideas with other people.

20. Meet where you like. We all have the right to meet our friends and to work together in peace to defend our rights. Nobody can make us join a group if we don't want to.

21. The right to democracy. We all have the right to take part in the government of our country. Every grown-up should be allowed to choose their own leaders.

22. The right to social security. We all have the right to affordable housing, medicine, education, and child care, enough money to live on and medical help if we are ill or old.

23. Workers' rights. Every grown-up has the right to do a job, to a fair wage for their work, and to join a trade union.

24. The right to play. We all have the right to rest from work and to relax.

25. A bed and some food. We all have the right to a good life. Mothers and children, people who are old, unemployed or disabled, and all people have the right to be cared for.

26. The right to education. Education is a right. Primary school should be free. We should learn about the United Nations and how to get on with others. Our parents can choose what we learn.

27. Culture and copyright. Copyright is a special law that protects one's own artistic creations and writings; others cannot make copies without permission. We all have the right to our own way of life and to enjoy the good things that "art", science and learning bring.

28. A free and fair world. There must be proper order so we can all enjoy rights and freedoms in our own country and all over the world.

29. Our responsibilities. We have a duty to other people, and we should protect their rights and freedoms.

30. Nobody can take away these rights and freedoms from us.